Cold forces OAPs to live in one room
Wednesday 31st December 2008, 3:00PM GMT.
SOME elderly Islanders are being forced to live in one room this winter because they cannot afford to heat their entire home.
According to Age Concern chairman Daphne Minihane (pictured), some pensioners are so worried about the cost of heating that they are confining themselves to a single room until the freezing temperatures pass.
Mrs Minihane, who is also the chairman of the Senior Citizens Association, believes that many still face the dilemma of choosing between heating and other provisions, and are worse off now than they were ten years ago.
‘I know of people who are worried about how they will pay their heating bills so are now trying to keep warm by living in just one room of their home,’ she said. ‘We have serious concerns. Something needs to be done. It was said in the States recently that home owners suffering financial hardship could expect nothing from the Income Support system and should rejig their lifestyles. It’s fine to sit in an ivory tower and say rejig, but many older people are living on a fixed income and simply do not have the ability to do that.’
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My wife and i have been stuck in the kitchen since October and we are in our thirtys!!!
Why the mass generalisation that its only “old” people that suffer living here in expensive “life enpooring” Jersey.
However if you have worked all your life and still cant afford to put the heating on in your old age there must be something wrong with the mentallity that run this place.
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What about the folk on long-term disability ? Many of us are not old, but have to survive on a lot less than a full States Pension ! I live in one room most of the year because gas and electricity are so expensive and have not dared to put on any heating yet this year, no matter how cold I am.
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I agree – its not just OLD people that are having a hard time.
In the UK my gas bill per month was £50 and my elec £40 A MONTH
In Jersey, with a smaller (non-quals!) house I pay more in rent than my mortgage in the UK, my Gas is £150 and my Elec £100 PER MONTH
We (Wife, 2yo and I) have spent the whole winter in the frontroom next to a coal/wood fire – sometimes opting to sleep in the same room as the fire is so nice….
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I’ve been sleeping on the sofa over the past few months, so I don’t have to keep heating the bedroom, but I’m still really worried about how much my electricity bill will be next year!
I’m also under 50 years of age, so it’s not only affecting the elderly Jersey residents!
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a lot of people say to me that they cannot believe such a beautiful island [ i left 27 years ago ] , things appear to have got proggressively worse over there .
every time i go the landscape is altered with milliions of pounds going down the tube . instead of trying to be state of the art why the local government priorotise sprending and look after there own .headlines are spectaular and sell papers , but i fear that there is some truth in the way that people are being forced to live
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I have never understand the mentality of some people who come to the island constantly complain about it and rubbish it and claim how great it is back in the UK yet, yet still stay instead of go back.
I know for sure that if I moved somewhere and a) didn’t like it, b) couldn’t afford to live there, I would come back home or go somewhere else instead of sitting around moaning about it.
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Talk about deja-vu, thirty years ago when my son was born we all slept in one room, going to bed at 7 pm to try and keep warm, the States never have and never will be concerned with anything other than themselves, as an aside we now have a new employment law from 2005, with no provision for redundancy pay, the States are not bothered, we are not important to the well-being of Jersey Ltd.
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We can only blame ourselves….we voted these imbeciles into government!!
Is there not one politician in this island whose policies are designed to look after the well being of the island and its people? r
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i guess they,d rather spend yhe money on building a concrete jungle that we don,t need or want than help their own people who are struggling to pay bills typical of jersey never have had ordinary working class people in their interests,you just have to look at the staff at woolies to see that.if finance flops the house of cards will come falling down as they got rid of all industry years ago and tourism is non existant and now they are spending our gst to promote it it would be a joke if it was,nt a tragedy.
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Perhaps Ed fails to see the big picture, does the goverment not have an obligation to see that the elderly of the island are at least kept warm in the winter months? Is reclaiming the land west of the albert pier more important ? Or any number of crazy money waisting fiascos the jersey states are responsible for? If there is one child who goes to bed hungry or one OAP who goes to bed cold in jersey, in this day and age, then the states members should all be ashamed of themselves……….
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reading the comments on the cold and hardships of some people in jersey,i say this,wish i had the chance to try it out i love jersey me and my wife visit at least once a year.
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Ed, not everyone is from the U.K over here! There is some Jersey people left that cannot afford the heating bills in their homes! What gets me, all these properties that are going up everywhere, why dont they start preparing the buildings with solar panelling etc etc, it does annoy me with all the global changes thats going on, alot of properties arent environmentally friendly. The increase in electric is absaloutely disgusting and yes its a worry for not just people that have come to live over here but also for the likes of Jersey people that cant afford to pay for high prices of Gas and electric! Whats it going to take for some poor dear old person to die of hypothermia first before anything is done?? This is always the case, something tragic has got to happen before anything is done!
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Phil who quotes – “In Jersey, with a smaller (non-quals!) house I pay more in rent than my mortgage in the UK, my Gas is £150 and my Elec £100 PER MONTH”
Sorry mate but theres always a ferry in the morning. If you have a house in the UK and can not afford to support your family here in Jersey then dont you owe it to your kid to move back to the UK.
On the subject of the elderly its not their fault that the States do not look after them as they may have worked all thier lives and now get treated as they are not wanted here.
But as some of the comments are saying its not only the elderly.
I too have had to pay a £275 gas bill in November and are dreading the next one. This on top of Water and Electric is crippling my finaces.
I am going to be more thrifty in 2009
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Electricity is NOT cheaper than in the UK – we moved back here from the UK 2 years ago and immediately we were paying more for less output and heaven knows how we will manage to pay our future bills. As others have posted on this comment page, we are trying to ride this cold winter with as little heating as possible, and this should not be the case in this day and age and in an affluent Island. The ordinary people and the elderly do not matter one jot in the grand scheme of things here, and on another matter it is a disgrace that the employees of Woolworths are not to be compensated in any way, shape or form because ‘it is not the law in Jersey’. It is high time that employment laws were brought up to date here in line with the UK.
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we are all in the same boat, with high prices.
will anything be done ?
i very little doubt it.
the pure greed over here must abate.
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Yet another story that emphasises the fact that the Jersey states care not a jot about the average person struggling to keep warm and fed.They are interested in one image for Jersey and that is as a finance centre full of affluent business people and retired millionaires.The rest of you are of no interest to the majority of them (certain exceptions obviously such as Alan Breckon who is a caring person)
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In this particularly cold snap, we keep the living room warm. Half an hour before bedtime, we turn the heater on in the bedroom and boil the kettle for a hot water bottle. Why do old people, why does anyone, need to heat so many rooms all the time? Nothing to do with money, more common sense.
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One of the richest economies in the world. Just recently we heard all the self-congratulating. Yet, the economic reality is not only dire for OAPs but for a large percentage of the population. Even “middle-class” families with children have to confine themselves to one or two heated rooms. People on the lower end of the salary spectrum are not even considered as without political representation or consideration whatsoever.
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I haven’t missed the big picture, and I know not everyone here is from the UK. My point was in reference to the people who can obviously have a better life for themselves elsewhere but choose not too.
As for the government taking responsibiltiy, shouldn’t we be encouraged to take responsibility for ourselves. That’s what some of us pay hundreds of pounds a month into pension plans or other policies for to ensure that in our later years we are not a burden on others or the government.
Too many people seem content to live on handouts or have expectations that other people should be paying for them. It’s about time people took responsibility for themselves.
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Ed, You say “people seem content to live on handouts ”
well i dont, i work hard for my money.
You say “some of us pay hundreds of pounds a month into pension plans” well i can not afford to pay hundreds of pounds into a fund and even if i did (like you) i would most likly be sitting here seeing my money dispear because of greedy banks.
A lot of people would love to have a cushy pension but they can not afford it. This is why we have the States pension so that we can pay into the systen and recieve a minimal amount to help in retirement.
The utilitys are higher than anywhere in Europe, prove me wrong.
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please send these posts to the states – they need to know how hard it is living over here!
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One of the richest economies in the world we here constantly in a self satisfying tone yet where is all this money going? Is it to keep the elderly warm in the winter? Is it to invest in the young generation who are suppossed to stay in Jersey?
You look around and see the scruffy 1970,s town and cracked pavements and think where on earth is this money going?
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All these people complaining about the price of electric. I wonder if they are all using energy saving lights and low power consumption heaters. Also what ever happened to the good old thermal underwear? That’s the answer 7 pairs of thermals for every pensioner
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I bet the States Members dont care they can easily aford to keep warm on there wage so why should they worry about us lot, after all where not importent where just human, even people who own there own home cannot aford to pay those high heating bills on just oap pension. We will all have to save our newspapers and line them between the sheet and blankets like you had to during the war to keep warm, also if the states would provide us solar panels it might help
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energy saving lights are way over the top some are £7.99 each also cause headache for some,my friend had to revert back to old ones
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Futurist 4….I think the money must be going to help repair our roads…..they are permanently being worked on!!!
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You can’t use this to show that the States are useless, the same problems exist everywhere else, including the UK which had an identical story on national news just the other day.
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the only thing keeping me warm these days is my well worn laptop given to me by son to keep the old brain ticking over,it keeps my thighs warm and then my legs and sometimes put it on my feet,but i hope it lasts out till spring as i fear the fan is overheating,but looking on the bright side it is keeping me warm in this bitterly cold weather
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Out of interest would the states ever consider offering tube heaters to the elderly?
A 240v 180 Watt Tube Heater costs around £45 to buy and around £25 per month to run if kept on permanently, the states could buy these in bulk saving a great deal of money. They are also available in smaller sizes 80 Watt versions, so could be fitted to a few rooms for the same monthly cost with a smaller heat output. I’m sure the states could muster up a few volunteers to fit them as they plug straight into a socket and screw into the wall.
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Bella
I’ll give my laptop a go to make more use of it thanks for the idea,Also
I was going to try those energy saving lights I shall not now I get enough headaches already
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Not everyone is in the position to pay into private pension schemes, this is due to the fact that they may have been on low wages in the past, even now. Not everyone over here in Jersey is rich or is on high wages! I can see the future for Jersey, we will have beggars and more people on the streets before long living rough where they cannot afford to survive. Ed, i am one person that has been on low wages in the past and i worked hard for it and not been able to afford to put away hundreds of pounds for such a purpose! I gather you were on a high paid wage!
Look how cold it is getting, theres still a number of properties out there that do not have double glazing so by the time they have had their heating on, their warmth has gone literally out the window! The elderly, yes i am concerned about them. A couple of years ago, there was an elderly gentleman and his wife that i used to talk to alot and over the months, his health deteriorated and the cold used to get to him bad during the winter months. I handed over a fleece jacket for him to try and keep him warm through the winter nights which he loved because it used to keep him warm but sadly this person passed a way a year and a half later. Knowing that i gave him something warm to wear, i felt good in myself, but i am horrified to see how much the electric has gone up especially with the GST that has also hit the island, what the hell is going on over here? I am absaloutely outraged and disgusted that all of this should be going on in such a supposidly a beautiful and well liked island! Elderly people at a certain age should be given a healthy cut in their electricity and gas bills! Surely this would give them a chance to heat up their household and stay comfortable to live out the rest of their days! For those of you at the moment that are finding it very cold and cant keep warm, fleeces and wooley,thermal hats are very warm to wear! All the best! x
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here here pedigree bb because we are at home more, use more heating,usually in 1 room as its too dear to heat the others,my bedroom is like siberia so sleep on the couch.i hope this weather is,nt a repeat of 1962/63 which started xmas day 62, and carried on to well into march i remember having to walk from bagot to nursery at rouge bullion before starting work in hospital,this journey usually took 40mins but trying to walk with pushchair with blizzards and freezing ice everywhere it took double the time. there was no child allowence then or rent rebate,but went to work every day regardless,doubt if any of the next generation will work as long and hard as we did just to make a basic living,and now can,t afford to use heating,with the prices so high the good old days sometimes was,nt so good.the states should give us a reduction,they made enough money on the back of us,we,ve paid for it.
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To really help all thoes people whom do not have enough income to keep warm they should automatic get an allowance as the income tax could supply all names of people who are under the tax or do not have to pay tax it would be much better then having to go cap in hand, On the mainland it goes automatic out to thoes elderly and needy
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